YOURSAY | ‘What kind of country are we living in when the state can just snatch you up and make you disappear?’

Police behind disappearance of Koh and Amri, Suhakam inquiry concludes

Vijay47: For a nation that claims to be guided by honour and decency despite the government’s rejection of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) and the Rome Statute, the sad, sorry, shameful saga of social activist Amri Che Mat and pastor Raymond Koh’s abductions reveal the unbelievable criminal depths our authorities have fallen into.

What makes it even more shocking is that the hapless victims suffered their still-unknown fates not because they offended any law, but because they subscribed to a belief, a way of life, through which they hoped to bring some comfort to their fellow beings.

For this record of abysmal shame, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak is not alone. Dr Mahathir Mohamad is equally guilty of allowing the police force to run riot with the law, and if the prime minister now wishes to atone for his sins of grievous lapse, he should charge both the present and previous inspector-generals of police for their mortal dereliction of duty, and with them, the many others who were part and parcel of the renegade coterie.

On one hand, we see two gentle, caring persons being made to disappear for no reason other than that they were perceived to run afoul of religious fanatics while at the same time, an outlaw from India, a terrorist sympathiser and preacher of hatred is welcomed to the country’s bosom as though he were a living saint. I can only continue to grieve for you, Indira Gandhi.

Lodestar: All Malaysians of every creed and political persuasion should be outraged at this blatant attack on our democracy.

The Special Branch was set up to protect the rule of law, not take the law into their own hands in the style of hooligans.

In terms of audacity and complexity, these dastardly operations can only have been ordered by those higher up and the perpetrators protected by these same persons. All the collusion and cover-up are an alarming display of the police state festering in the heart of our democracy.

It may have started under BN rule, but the Pakatan Harapan government has so far shown absolutely no interest in getting to the bottom of it.

The much-talked about and much-needed reform of the police force has shown no signs of life, with the government dragging its feet.

The horror emanating from the Human Rights Commission’s (Suhakam) report can no longer be swept under the carpet. The government must respond in a way that regains the people's trust.

It's bad enough that Malaysia Baru is, day by day, turning out to be a false dawn. Let us hope that it will not bring darkness at noon.

The Wakandan: This is a very serious case of extrajudicial enforced disappearance. Since we are a constitutional democracy, in which such acts by the government cannot be allowed, this needs to be followed up at the highest level.

The culprits should be exposed and brought to court to face the consequences. People should feel safe and be safe in this country.

Roar for Truth: This is a conclusion most Malaysians already knew from week one.

Will those who sanctioned the operation be brought to justice if there is no justification that Koh, Amri and others were a national security threat?

FellowMalaysian: I had fearful and foreboding thoughts since Koh's and Amri's disappearances and kidnapping that the police force was somewhat involved in these two cases.

I find no plausible reason to explain how Koh was caught on video being dragged into a fleet of MPVs waiting to haul him away, and yet the police failed to find any lead at all in his enforced disappearance.

This was an organised kidnapping done in broad daylight. Only perpetrators known to the police and enforcement agencies had such audacity and impunity to take the law into their own hands.

So now will the Special Branch own up to Suhakam's damning conclusions and assist in unravelling Koh's and Amri's disappearances?

Let's hope that this will lead to some form of closure for their distraught families.

Meerkat: My goodness. The police kidnapped Amri and Koh. The police killed Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu and bombed her body. Just what was the police up to? How much more of their crimes do we not know yet?

It's no wonder that there are so many reports of police not willing to take reports from members of the public. They ruled the roost and did as they liked. The police need a good clean-up to regain the trust of the rakyat.

What is the common denominator of these crimes? Former IGP Khalid Abu Bakar? Najib?

It looks like DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang was correct all along. Malaysia was a police state, despite denials by BN. And why wouldn't they deny it? They perpetuated it. Do you still think that BN is, by any stretch of the imagination, looking after the interest of the rakyat?

Left Libertarian: Yes, this only confirms what many people have been suspecting. We know that the police can be very effective... if it wants to be.

The fact that these people have been missing so long means the authorities do not want to find them. And now we know why. It was the authorities who kidnapped them in the first place.

What kind of country are we living in when the state can just snatch you up and make you disappear? Is this North Korea?

Is the rule of law meaningless? Is the Home Ministry ignorant, or complicit?

Teh Tarik: The news is so shocking. I wonder what the motive was for the abduction.

I cannot see any reason why the Special Branch should be involved in the double abductions, unless they were acting on instructions from someone higher up.

In the distant past, the Special Branch was renowned for its expertise and was paramount in the defeat of the communists. If the report is true, then another highly esteemed organisation has fallen by the wayside.

Anonymous_1527925538: I agree with the Suhakam conclusions. Well done Suhakam for showing the world that at least there still remains one institution in Malaysia that carries out its responsibilities without fear and favour.

Quo Vadis: The public must now with one voice call upon the Harapan government, the government people had brought into power, for definitive action.

The IGP under whose watch this took place must be called to account - no equivocation, no prevarication, no compromise.

Mahathir, we call upon you to do the needful. Do not fail the people, the nation, international perception, and, above all, our deeply ingrained sense of right and wrong in the struggle for justice.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.